IDEAS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE: Life and Mission of Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak

The continuous search for new ideas has been man’s old obsession and older still is to find a blend of ancient values and modern materialism. The Sulabh philosophy is the nearest approximation to it. Writing about life and mission of Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak is like discussing an elusive idea which is hard to define and harder still to put into a theoretical stereotype. It all started from toilet to later expand into a societal culture and a system which produces no winner, no loser – the stuff of which history is made of. While the ideas of the past have shaped the social, political and religious institutions of today’s world, new concepts continually challenge our old perceptions, fuel debate and pave way for the future. Dr. Pathak’s vision is global, his heart is local. He never quits, no matter how tough life gets in difficult times. He works hard mostly in silence; his success does the talking. He is Hegelian because he is a rationalist; he is a Kantian because he talks of social moralist (categorical imperative), and both of them run together in the book like the Biblical sequence of creation, fall and redemption. This is the history and the legend of Sulabh Movement which is also discussed in the book.

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Ph.D., D.Litt., is an academic, research scholar and a prolific writer who has written a number of books on a variety of subjects. Being essentially a social activist, he has provided an intellectual underpinning to his social initiatives. He has been honoured with many national and international awards, including the St. Francis Prize for the Environment (Canticle of all Creatures), the United Nations Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Award, Stockholm Water Prize, Padma Bhushan and most recently the Nikkei Asia Prize 2018 for Culture and Community. The award citation says Dr. Pathak has used toilet as a building block for social renewal and a scavenging-free society. And, thus, he delivers justice to manual scavengers following Mahatma Gandhiji’s principle which is Sulabh legacy. Dr. Pathak is a relentless campaigner for social cause, writing while he works. He is the founder of the Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement and lives in Delhi with his family.

S.P. Singh is an old-time journalist who has worked for many news outfits, including UNI, Onlooker, The Pioneer, The Statesman and The Hindustan Times, functioning in different capacities. He has been writing on historical and social subjects, reflecting the opinions and concerns of the time. He lives in Gurgaon with his wife Madhuri, son Ajay and daughters Madhu and Kavita.